Budget deal axes 'czars' already gone

House Republicans won a symbolic victory by dethroning four White House "czars" under the contentious federal spending agreement rolled out early Tuesday morning, but symbolism may be all they got.

The language in the short-term budget agreement seeks to put four of President Barack Obama's policy czars out of jobs — those appointed to assist the president on health care, climate change, autos and manufacturing, and urban affairs.

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The catch: At least three of those four czars have already moved out of the czar jobs.

Energy and climate adviser Carol Browner resigned earlier this year; health czar Nancy-Ann DeParle was promoted to deputy White House chief of staff; and Obama's urban affairs adviser, Adolfo Carrión, left the White House to become a regional director for HUD.

The only real victim of the budget deal could be Ron Bloom, a senior adviser on autos at Treasury before being named senior counselor to the president on manufacturing.

But the White House said Tuesday morning that Bloom is no longer the auto adviser and won’t be affected by the budget deal, which it characterized as merely confirming changes it has already made.

"Over the last several months, the White House has undergone a reorganization that involved the consolidation of several offices and positions," the White House told POLITICO. "Included in that larger reorganization, earlier this year the Domestic Policy Council assumed responsibility for health care, as well as energy and climate change policy coordination and development in the White House. The agreements reflect those changes."

House Republicans attached an amendment to a spending bill that passed the chamber in February to block funding for nine White House policy advisers. Louisiana Republican Rep. Steve Scalise, the author of that amendment, warned at the time against what he called "a very disturbing proliferation of czars" under President Obama.

"These unappointed, unaccountable people who are literally running a shadow government, heading up these little fiefdoms that nobody can really seem to identify where they are or what they're doing," Scalise said in February. "But we do know that they're wielding vast amounts of power."

Senate Democrats at the time vowed to fight the measure, calling the language "an intrusive micromanagement of the president's White House staff via appropriations."

With the narrower anti-czar rider, both sides have an opportunity to claim victory. Republicans walk away with the talking point that they dethroned unelected officials playing key roles on controversial policy initiatives; the White House and Senate Democrats can claim they protected most of the advisers that matter — those who are still there.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 9:26 a.m. on April 12, 2011.